How to See What's Connected to My Network

Acutis · plain-English network help · updated June 2026

The short answer

The fastest way to see what's connected to your network is to open your router's admin page and look at its list of connected devices — usually labeled "Attached Devices," "Device List," "DHCP Clients," or "My Network." That list shows every phone, laptop, TV, speaker, and smart plug currently using your Wi-Fi or cables. If you'd rather not log into the router, your own computer can list devices on the network too, and free scanning apps will draw the same picture. The catch is that all of these methods give you raw, half-labeled data — you'll often see a device but not know what it actually is.

Method 1: Your router's admin page

Your router assigns an address to everything on the network, so it has the most complete list. To see it:

1. Find your router's address. This is your "default gateway" — commonly 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. (See our guide on finding your router's IP address if you're not sure.)
2. Type that address into a web browser and log in. The username and password are often printed on a sticker on the router itself.
3. Open the device list. Look for "Attached Devices," "Connected Devices," "Client List," or "DHCP." You'll see each device's name, IP address, and usually its MAC address.

This is the authoritative view, but router interfaces vary wildly between brands, and many show cryptic names like android-9f2c or just a string of numbers.

Method 2: From your own computer (ARP)

Your computer keeps a small table of the devices it has recently talked to on the local network, called the ARP cache. You can view it from a command line:

• Windows: open Command Prompt and type arp -a.
• Mac or Linux: open Terminal and type arp -a.

You'll get a list of IP addresses paired with MAC addresses. The ARP cache only shows devices your machine has recently communicated with, so it's not a full census — but it's a quick way to spot the active neighbors without logging into anything.

Method 3: A network scanning app

Free apps such as Fing, Angry IP Scanner, or your router maker's own phone app will actively probe every address on your network and report back what answered. These tend to be friendlier than a router page: they often try to guess the device type and manufacturer for you. They still rely on the same underlying clues (IP, MAC, vendor), so they hit the same wall when a device doesn't announce itself clearly.

How to identify an unknown device

Once you have a list, the real work is figuring out what each entry is. You have three clues to work with:

• IP address. The address itself rarely tells you what a device is, but it lets you track the same device across tools. (More on this in what is an IP address.)
• MAC address. Every network device has a unique hardware MAC address, and the first half of it identifies the manufacturer. A MAC starting with an Apple or Samsung block tells you it's likely a phone or laptop from that maker. You can look up the vendor with our free MAC vendor lookup.
• Hostname. Some devices report a friendly name like Living-Room-TV; many report nothing useful.

A practical trick: turn devices off one at a time and watch which entry disappears from the list. Unplug the smart speaker, refresh, and the line that vanished was the speaker.

Why this is fiddly to do by hand

Doing this manually is slow and never quite complete. Router lists drop devices that have gone idle, the ARP cache only shows recent contacts, MAC vendor lookups identify the maker but not the specific gadget, and modern phones randomize their MAC addresses to defeat exactly this kind of tracking. You end up with a wall of half-labeled numbers and a few mystery entries you can never quite pin down. It's doable for a handful of devices, but it gets unwieldy fast in a busy home or office.